Knowsley Bus Review

Merseytravel are doing a Knowsley Bus Review with passengers able to have their say until 18th Dec


http://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/about-us/Pages/Knowsley-Bus-Review.aspx

Let's hope they do something about the frankly very silly numbering of the 166/188/266/288 group of services!

Since the weekday daytime service was split into two separate halves, we now effectively have:

• A Belle Vale to Halewood via Garston service, which has no fewer than four different numbers for exactly the same route;
  
• A Belle Vale to Halewood via Netherley service, which runs via four different routes, and has four different numbers - but the four different numbers do not correspond to the four different variations of the route!
  

Whilst this is a commercial service - and it was presumably HTL's decision to retain those numbers, even though they are no longer appropriate - Merseytravel make it even worse by presenting each direction as two separate hourly services in their timetable leaflet/PDF.

Really, there ought to be a single number covering ALL of the identical Belle Vale - Garston - Halewood services, ideally the same for both directions; and then four different numbers for the Belle Vale - Netherley - Halewood journeys, each covering both directions for one of the four variations:

• Naylorsfield Drive and Church Road
  
• Naylorsfield Drive and Okell Drive
  
• Garden Lodge Drive and Church Road
  
• Garden Lodge Drive and Okell Drive
  

I don't know if there's still any justification for the different routeing of the Saturday services, as it's a while since I've used them.  It would be neater if they could be the same, and from what I recall, this kind of simplification is one of the stated aims of the reviews.  But sorting out the weekday numbering would be a good start!

With it being commercial i would be surprised if its changed, Saying that i am surprised there is a Knowsley Bus review as most services have already been looked at as part of the Kirkby & Liverpool Bus reviews!

These reviews are all well and good but what happens when an operator commercially changes a route which Merseytravel had previously made the evening and Sunday variant identical. An example of this is the 140 & 141 in St Helens. The daytime routes are now different from the Evening & Sunday contract. Surely either the commercial daytime or the contracted service should be renumbered to avoid confusion.